The Invisible Alicorn

by McPoodle

Chapter 1: Street Scene

Chapter 1: Street Scene

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From above, the human city sparkled on the coastline like a pile of finely-cut diamonds.

Up close, those facets resolved into the corners of hundreds of tall buildings of glass and steel, each one housing one or more businesses contributing to the prosperity of the city’s inhabitants. Inhabitants who could be found walking the sidewalks and driving the streets of this city. For this was the lunch hour, and the weather was perfect, if a bit on the hot side.

The faint sound made by dragonfly wings humming was everywhere.

A large park dominated the city’s downtown area, complete with a tiny pond and safety-approved equipment for the entertainment of human children. Police officers equipped with the latest electronic, offensive and defensive gadgetry for the apprehension of evil-doers vigorously patrolled its perimeter. The parents seemed equally apprehensive, their eyes wandering from face to face wondering, Is he the one? The Helpers remained quiet and docile, ready to move at a moment’s notice. But the children mostly seemed oblivious to the atmosphere of caution. Licensed food vendors sold them sweet treats at discount prices. Miniature versions of fairground equipment kept their hearts pumping to the addictive sounds of a frantic calliope. And the numerous fountains kept them cool. Since this was a partially aquatic environment, the dominant attire of the children was swimwear adorned with the likenesses of various cartoon characters of screen and television: Anna and Elsa, Dory as well as Dora, Optimus Prime and Rainbow Dash. The dominant sounds to be heard were those of the ever-present calliope, the splashing of water, the playful screaming of children on epic sugar highs, and the gentle scolding of parents who were now realizing the folly of feeding ice cream and cotton candy to their three-year olds. A dozen feet away from the vendors, a girl with strawberry-blonde pigtails wearing a torn blue jumper hid behind a bush, trying and failing to get any of her box of matches to stay lit long enough to actually set anything on fire. She was the only miserable child in the park.

We’ll get back to her later.

A few blocks away from the park was the locus of entertainment for another slice of the city’s demographic: the Shopping District. There one could obtain antiques from a less bustling era…or the latest fashions imported from all of the other exciting cities on the planet. Each shop had its own unique clientele, differentiated by the type of music playing out of the speakers at each storefront. There was everything from Boccherini to Mangione, from the most sedate Vivaldi to the most vivacious Bon Jovi—as performed by the Mantovani String Orchestra. Atop this musical mish-mash were heard the usual sounds of mostly-female voices comparing items and prices, sharing gossip, and trying to avoid the subject of politics. Here the Helpers were employed to carry purchases. Except when being told to praise a particular purchase, they were quiet and passive, waiting for orders.

And of course the sounds of cars, and of human foot traffic, could be heard throughout the city.

In one corner of downtown, at the entrance to an abandoned alley, came a faint but distinctive sound. A sound that had not been heard in the city in decades:

Clip, clop. Clip…clop.

The sound of hooves.

From out of the alleyway stepped a horse-like creature, her eyes nearly at the level of the average adult human. Her coat was midnight blue in color, and her mane and tail drifted in a gentle breeze undetectable by anybody else. Suspended within those blobs of hair were faint spots of luminescence, gently pulsating lights reflecting the stars of the night sky. The mark of a crescent moon was emblazoned upon each of the equine’s flanks. The presence of wings and a horn were only to be expected, for this was Luna, Pony Princess of Equestria.

The reason for her presence here lay in the pile of small posters balanced upon her back. Under Luna’s watchful eye, one of the posters levitated itself into the air. Four pieces of wax paper were removed from adhesive strips which had been affixed to the four corners of the back of the poster. The poster was carefully positioned in the air, and then pressed firmly against the brick wall on the left side of the alley entrance, causing it to stick in place. With a satisfied nod, Luna turned and walked down the street, her eyes roaming about to find the next good place to hang a poster.

As she walked, the humans she passed…did nothing. They just walked and talked as they normally did. They made room for the large pony, but in no other way acknowledged her existence. The conversations might falter for a brief moment as Luna passed into a human’s view, or there might be the occasional glance into the sky, but otherwise, it was as if the Princess of the Night didn’t even exist.

Luna did her best to hide her reaction to this lack of recognition. She went about her job of hanging posters with diligence, switching to using a box of tacks she was holding under one wing whenever the best place to put a poster changed from a stone wall to a wooden post.

At the end of the street, Luna approached a busy intersection. She stood for a while and watched carefully until she understood how the various colors of street lights controlled both vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic. With a nod of comprehension, she then walked boldly up to the corner and used her magic to depress the crossing button.

A few seconds later a dignified elderly woman stepped beside her and ordered her Helper to press the same button.

“I’ve already pressed it,” Luna informed her politely.

The woman wrinkled her nose and said nothing. Her Helper didn’t even do the business with the nose.

Luna snorted in frustration and looked away.

“Mommy, Mommy!” a little girl a few feet away cried, pointing at Luna and dragging the hand of her weary mother. “It’s Princess Luna!”

The girl suddenly attracted all of the attention that the pony had failed to.

The mortified mother did her best to silence the excited girl. “No, no, it isn’t,” she urged in a low voice. “It’s just a mirage caused by the heat. Let’s…let’s cross at the other intersection.”

“But Mom!”

Any further protests could no longer be heard, as the poor girl had been dragged out of hearing range.

The group standing around Luna began discretely backing away, all while looking in any direction except at her, and mostly up.

Luna steadfastly refused to resist the urge to look up as well, to try to see whatever it was the humans were pretending to look at. She was well aware of this little game of “staring at imaginary sky things”, as it was a great favorite of her sister’s pet phoenix. Besides, her ears informed her that there was absolutely nothing up there but dragonflies. But just in case…

Luna took a peek skyward. And saw absolutely nothing of interest.

With a scowl at being suckered yet again, she turned her sights to the opposite street corner. She almost missed the changing of the light, and had to stumble forward to make sure she got across the street before the flashing outline of the walking human turned into a slapping hand. Luckily she was expecting her pile of posters to fall off of her back during this maneuver, so she was able to catch them in time.

The humans on the far side of the intersection acted the same as the ones on the street she had come from, giving her no acknowledgement whatsoever. From time to time she would glance at her reflection in a shop window, just to make sure that she truly was visible. A few minutes later, she looked back at one of the posters that she had put up, just to be sure they didn’t fade out of existence once they were separated from her.

At the next intersection, Luna looked over at the digital display in front of a bank. The display informed her that the time was 1:18 pm. Or at least, this is what it would have said, if the other 25% of the light-up dots were working properly. Luna’s time on Earth today was scheduled to last until 5:30.

It was going to be a long day.

Comments

[Prime 2.0]

I have no idea what crazy urban legend or conspiracy theory this could correspond to, and we still haven't gotten back to the unhappy arsonist. Very, very intrigued though.

Hoo.